WELSH universities should re-examine their links with autocratic regimes in the Middle East, a prominent historian has claimed.

Professor Peter Stead called on Welsh institutions to reconsider their relationship with states like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

It comes as the London School of Economics director Sir Howard Davies steps down after accepting its reputation had been damaged by a decision to accept £300,000 in research funding from a foundation controlled by Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif.

Many of Wales’ universities receive cash from Arab states heavily criticised over their record on human rights abuses and democracy.

At Bangor University, students funded by the King Abdul Aziz Scholarships of Saudi Arabia enrol on masters degrees in accounting, banking and finance.

Many Bahraini students enrol on banking and finance bachelor degrees through a partnership agreement with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance.

Qatari Al- Thani royal family members have also graduated from the university.

In 2009, Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan Al-Nahyan – the nephew of Manchester City’s multi- billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family – completed a PhD at Bangor.

Cardiff University also has students who are funded by under-fire Arab governments.

Retired cultural historian Prof Stead, 67, said the financial relationship between Welsh universities and Arab states could be seen to compromise their attitudes to civil liberties in those countries.

The academic, a visiting professor at the University of Glamorgan, added: “I think our universities in general, and particularly our Welsh universities, are far too dependent on including students from overseas and that kind of income. It’s very unsatisfactory and, quite apart from anything else, could be stopped tomorrow.

“It’s a very undesirable situation and the time has come for our universities to take stock and look very closely at what is happening.

“They need to be open and honest about it and to make absolutely certain that, though they accept the money, it in no way compromises their attitudes towards civil liberties in those countries.”

A wave of protest movements calling for greater freedom and democracy have swept the Middle East and North Africa in recent weeks, toppling regimes in Egypt and Tunisia and leaving others under threat, notably Libya.

Abu Dhabi is part of the United Arab Emirates, which doesn’t hold elections to any public office and where political authority is vested exclusively in the hands of ruling families.

In Saudi Arabia, Shia cleric Shaikh Tawfiq al-Amir was recently arrested for calling for a constitutional monarchy and equal rights for Shias.

In Bahrain two opposition figures were arrested last September after attending a seminar on the country in the House of Lords. One of the charges was “contacting a foreign organisation and providing them with false and misleading information”.

In Qatar, women, children of mixed marriages and gays are among those unable to enjoy full human rights.

Welsh universities umbrella body Higher Education Wales said it would be wrong to deny opportunities to international students because of reservations about the regimes in their home countries.

A spokesperson said: “Access to a high-quality university education is of great advantage to the individual student and exposes them to the UK’s diverse and democratic culture. “In principle, it surely cannot be right to suggest that individual students should be denied access to such opportunities because of their country of origin.”

Director of Human Rights Watch in the UK, Tom Port- eous, said universities need to enter relationships with Arab states with their “eyes open”.

“They should realise that these are governments which are more or less repressive, so they should really weigh up the pros and cons.

“They should go into it with their eyes open and shouldn’t be under any illusions that the money is coming from governments that are in no way democratic and, which in many cases, have very poor human rights records.”

Both Bangor and Cardiff echoed HEW, saying every UK university has international students sponsored by their governments and it would be a mistake to deny them the chance to study abroad.